I have the same problem; I can load up AI for the first time, change New Document profile to web and work as normal, but once I exit AI and open it again, it freezes whenever I try to start a New Document - and it only happens when I last worked in web document profile.

The only workaround I've found so far is holding down Command+Option+Shift while clicking the AI dock icon to open the program, which apparantly wipes the preferences file, and allows me to actually use AI and start a New Document.

It really is annoying, I hope Adobe fixes it sooner rather than later...

for the record, i've narrowed it down to the EXACT file that causes the issue of the crash. When i delete it and start it, it runs great. but then when i close it and start it up again, it causes issues.

You are on a Mac, right? You will have to make sure that the permissions are properly set on the folder HD/Users/<yourusername>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CSx Settings. In OSX10.7.x and above the Library folder is hidden. Do a Google search for instructions to unhide it. Select the folder a do a Get Info. In the dialog box, change the permissions to read/write for everyone on the list and check apply to enclosed items. This should clear the problem.

You sound like a real person, Monika, and affiliated to Adobe, too. Please tell us if this issue is being addressed by Adobe, or if we're just out of luck to have bought a piece of software that doesn't work for us.

Fair enough. Current system settings is Mac OS 10.7.5, 2,93 Ghz Intel Core i7 and 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3. Illustrator CS6 on this machine is part of the upgrade from the CS5.5 Master Collection. So far, I tried the manual override with CMD-opt-shift, adjusting the library settings to allow permissions and a reinstall.

The problem seems to occur when changing the new document profile to web, on which Illustrator invariably hangs.

My setup could well be at fault. If this information allows you to pinpoint the problem, I'd be much obliged.

I'm running from an admin account, but I did what you suggested and created a new user account with admin privileges. That new account had no trouble creating a new document as a web document, so you were right about the settings problem. Is there any way you know of I can use this information to fix illustrator on my regular admin account?

I'm sorry, no, I don't know of a way to even retrieve the settings of your new account. Let alone the differences between it and your existing account. Maybe they know it in some Mac-centric user forums.

I don't know if a Mac has the option to start an application as an Admin or not. On Windows, one can right-click and choose that option. That can cure a lot of ills with applications that need to set permissions. Starting an application on Windows for such things is a one-time deal. Once the application is running, then one would exit and start normally.

why should I make a new user on my system to get a feature that should be standard. I'm an admin on my system and would like to stay an admin.

Have you ever watched "House, MD"?

Well, that's what we're doing here: diagnosis. Setting up a clean account serves to rule out factors. If Illustrator works in a new account, then there is proof that the culprit is somewhere in your existing account.

Well, if I'm correct we've narrowed it down to permissions of the main admin account. (Thank you, Monika, BTW, for both addressing the issue AND finding at least the root cause). That said, I do agree with Steven when he states this deserves at least some attention from Adobe. This issue prohibits even basic functioning. As for now, we still haven't fixed anything, and suggestions are more than welcome.

What Monika has been able to focus on are some common causes, damaged preferences, permissions, yet the underlying issue can be something directly related to the actual account that is damaged. When a new user account is working and you have already tried things such as preferences or addressing general permissions, then we would normally recommend a migration from one account to another. Apple has some documentation to help with transfering files to a new account: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3309

It's not that our software is incompatible with the version of OS but something became corrupted within the account itself. We try to address what we can, as well as some common causes as mentioned earlier but at this point creating a new admin account and migrating the files is the approach we would recommend.